Overview

• Sixteen chargesheets targeted 70 residents for providing shelter to foreign attendees of the March 2020 Nizamuddin Markaz Tablighi Jamaat meeting.
• Justice Neena Bansal Krishna pronounced “chargesheets quashed” on July 17 without detailing her reasoning from the bench.
• The petitions to void the FIRs were filed in January 2022 by advocate Ashima Mandla on behalf of the accused.
• Delhi Police had opposed the quashing pleas, arguing the hosts defied prohibitory orders and contributed to COVID-19’s local spread after attendees moved to Chandni Mahal.
• A full written judgment is pending to explain the High Court’s decision to overturn these pandemic-era prosecutions.